Z67S 
6*  til 


UC-NRLF 


B    3    117    blfl 


o 


Workshops 

for 

Assembling  Business  Facts 


>       • 

• . '   . 

— i — » — »-»-?-«— t— ( — '.».*.  T  »-* — *—*-»-*- 


WORKSHOPS 

for 

Assembling  Business  Facts 


by 

Dorsey  W.  Hyde,  Jr., 

V.  S.  Chamber  of  Commerce,  Washington,  D.  C; 
President,  Special  Libraries  Association 


With  an  Introductory  Note  by 

Herbert  Hoover 


Chicago 

American  Library  Association 
Publishing  Board 

78  East  Washington  Street 
1921 


•  •        •••••• 

••  ••••-••• 

•     •  •••••••• 


r-.j  ••  •  •  •  •••  


USftAKf 
SCHOOL 


»      »   •- 


■  •  • 


*  • 


The  manuscript  for  this  pamphlet  was  sub- 
mitted by  the  author  to  the  Joint  Committee  of 
Seven  of  the  American  Library  Association  and 
the  Special  Libraries  Association,  and  was  ap- 
proved by  that  Committee.  The  members  of  the 
Committee  are : 

SAMUEL  H.  <RANCK,  Chairman, 

Librarian,  Public  Library,  Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 

ELIZABETH  V.  DOBBINS, 

52  Broadway,  New  York  City 

ALTA  <B.  CLAFLIN, 

Librarian,  Federal  Reserve  Bank  Library,  Cleveland,  Ohio 

J.  H.  FRIEDEL, 

Chief  Information  Dept.  National  Industrial  Conference 
Board,  New  York  City 

ELLWGOD  H.  MCCLELLAND, 

Technology  Librarian,  Carnegie  Library,  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

WILLIAM  F.  JACOB, 

Librarian,  Main  Library  General   Electric  Co.,  Schenec- 
tady, N.  Y. 

DORSEY  W.  HYDE,  Jr., 

Asst.  Manager  Civic  Development  Dept.  U.  S.  Chamber  of 
Commerce,  Mills  (Bldg.,  Washington,  <T>.  C. 


4G0175 


•  .  •   • 

•  •    •   • 


•   •"    •      •  • 


*      •    • 
.  .    ♦   • 


1   . 


•  •  •  • 


•  •   • ' 


-1 


«*  -         _   f  »  * 


Fact  Information  in  ^Business 


N  THE  ORGANIZATION  AND  MAN- 

a&ement  of  every  business,  statistical  and 
fact  information  plays  a  most  important 
part.  Business  executives  must  know  the 
character  and  the  location  of  the  demand 
for  the  products  made  by  their  concern;  they 
must  know  the  sources  for  labor  and  raw  ma- 
terials; they  must  know  credit  and  financial 
conditions,  and  a  host  of  detailed  facts  about  all 
current  operations  of  the  business.  Fact  infor- 
mation of  all  kinds  must  be  salvaged  from  a 
wide  variety  of  sources  both  inside  and  outside 
the  organization.  In  proportion  as  this  infor- 
mation is  promptly  received  and  accurately  com- 
piled the  business  will  tend  to  prosper  and  the 
organization  to  function  smoothly. 

While  the  truth  of  the  fore&oin£  has  always 
been  recognized  by  successful  business  men, 
they  have  differed  in  the  methods  which  they 
have  employed  to  secure  facts  and  statistics  and 
to  prepare  such  information  for  current  use.  In 
many  cases  there  exists  more  or  less  adequate 
machinery  for  the  initial  collection  of  business 
data  but  the  importance  of  or£anizin&  and  pre- 
serving this  material  for  future  reference  is  not 
realized.     Short-sighted   policies   in  this   respect 


<      <  (  CI 


,  ,<  t  <      *  (  (     <      f       €  t  '  f 

have  frequently  resulted  in  financial  loss  to  the 
company  concerned. 

The  function  of  the  business  library,  as  I 
understand  it,  is  to  collect  and  to  preserve  data 
of  value  to  the  business  executive  and  to  so  or- 
ganize this  information  that  it  will  be  available 
for  use  with  a  minimum  of  delay.  There  can 
be  no  question  of  the  value  of  such  service  to 
the  larger  business  firms  when  the  work  is 
properly  organized  and  the  librarian  in  charge 
has  a  clear  conception  of  the  possibilities  of  his 
position.  The  statement  that  "  knowledge  is 
power"  is  as  true  for  business  as  for  the  learned 
professions,  and  the  business  librarian  who  can 
make  his  service  an  integral  part  of  his  firm's 
organization  may  become  a  positive  factor,  both 
in  the  increase  of  profit  and  in  the  development 
of  constructive  business  standards. 

Herbert  Hoover- 


>  • 


Workshops  for  Assembling  Business  Facts 


The  Business  Value  of  Facts 

The  modern  business  executive  is  coming  more  and 
more  to  realize  the  value  of  facts.  He  spends  a  great 
deal  of  money  in  obtaining  facts  and  in  checking  up  to 
insure  their  accuracy.  This  work  he  puts  in  the  hands 
of  trained  experts  who  can  interpret  data  when  col- 
lected, and  who  can  advise  him  as  accurately  as  possible 
when  no  facts  can  be  obtained.  Due  to  scientific  ef- 
forts of  this  kind,  many  firms  have  increased  their 
earnings  in  the  face  of  a  narrowing  margin  of  profit. 

Only  the  larger  corporations,  however,  can  afford 
the  increase  in  overhead  expense  which  is  necessitated 
by  the  hiring  of  such  expert  assistants.  In  many  cases, 
also,  the  larger  corporations  claim  that  the  productive 
efficiency  of  their  expert  workers  is  extremely  low.  The 
object  of  this  bulletin  is  to  show  how  the  advantages 
of  fact  knowledge  can  be  extended  to  smaller  firms, 
and  how  the  productive  efficiency  of  expert  workers 
in  large  corporations  can  be  increased,  by  the  creation 
of  business  libraries  or  informational  departments. 

The  Expert  in  Business 

There  has  been  an  increasing  tendency  up  to  the 
present  to  depend  upon  the  counsel  of  business  spe- 
cialists in  the  organization  and  planning  of  commer- 
cial and  industrial  undertakings.  During  the  last  year 
or  so  the  self-styled  "business  expert"  has  been  the 
subject  of  much  criticism,  but  in  general  the  tendency 

7 


towards,  the  introduction  of  special  counsel  in  business 
has  received  no  serious  setback.  In  this  connection 
the  outstanding  fact  of  recent  experience  is  that  the 
business  specialist  or  expert  has  succeeded  in  propor- 
tion as  he  has  been  able  to  interpret  and  to  apply  his 
special  knowledge  in  terms  of  the  business  with  which 
he  is  connected. 

In  this  endeavor  to  apply  his  knowledge  to  the 
needs  of  his  own  concern  the  business  specialist 
has  encountered  numerous  obstacles.  His  natural  de- 
sire to  study  and  to  analyze  special  problems  is  con- 
tinually thwarted  by  the  deluge  of  questions  and  in- 
quiries which  come  to  his  desk  and  he  finds  it  difficult 
to  respond  to  such  demands  without  sacrificing  his 
special  work.  There  is  very  little  printed  information 
concerning  special  types  of  business  and  such  literature 
as  exists  is  difficult  to  obtain.  The  current  operations 
of  business  houses,  where  such  are  recorded,  are  scat- 
tered through  a  miscellaneous  collection  of  files  and 
records,  making  careful  study  and  quick  reference  ex- 
tremely difficult  and  in  some  cases  impossible.  Work- 
ing against  such  handicaps  the  specialist  is  hardly  to 
be  blamed  for  a  decrease  in  his  productive  efficiency. 

What  a  Firm  Should  Know  About  its  Business 

If  a  firm  is  to  be  in  a  position  to  answer  all  ques- 
tions concerning  the  business  which  it  carries  on,  it 
must  first  get  some  idea  of  the  kind  of  questions  that 
will  be  asked.  To  obtain  an  idea  as  to  the  character 
of  such  questions  is  no  easy  task,  but  this  object  may 
be  accomplished,  nevertheless,  by  keeping  track,  during 

8 


a  given  period  of  time,  of  all  questions  asked  by  ex- 
ecutives, sales  representatives,  and  actual  patrons  of 
the  firm.  A  task  of  this  kind  must  be  handled  by  some 
one  individual,  such  as  the  business  librarian,  with 
authority  to  examine  incoming  mail,  office  memoranda, 
etc.,  whose  duty  it  will  be  to  study  such  inquiries  and 
to  tabulate  them  to  show  the  general  character  of  in- 
formational demands. 

A  knowledge  of  such  demands  made  upon  a  com- 
pany, secured  in  some  such  manner  as  indicated  above, 
should  be  the  basis  for  all  studies  and  research  work 
undertaken  (except  such  special  researches  as  may  be 
undertaken  from  time  to  time  for  the  improvement 
of  the  commodities  manufactured).  As  a  result  of 
the  re-alignment  of  the  corporation's  research  work, 
executives  will  receive  a  more  efficient  report  service, 
the  needs  of  patrons  will  be  more  clearly  understood 
and  more  intelligently  supplied,  advertising  campaigns 
will  be  more  accurately  formulated,  and  the  value  of 
the  service  to  sales  representatives  will  be  materially 
increased. 

Because  of  the  failure  to  study  and  to  analyze  the 
inquiries  received  many  firms  have  been  put  to  great 
expense.  The  manufacturer  of  a  certain  farm  tractor 
found  that  sales  diminished  and  then  ceased  in  one 
portion  of  the  country  and  was  forced  to  make  a  spe- 
cial survey  of  tractor  purchasers  to  ascertain  the  cause. 
An  analysis  of  that  company's  unorganized  corre- 
spondence files  would  doubtless  show  that  the  cause 
of  the  trouble  had  been  frequently  called  to  the  at- 
tention of  various  departments. 

9 


What  an  Informational  Survey  Will  Reveal 
A  frequent  result  of  informational  surveys  such  as 
above-mentioned  is  to  disclose  the  reason  for  the  low 
productive  efficiency  of  staff  specialists  and  experts. 
The  analysis  of  the  demands  made  upon  these  men  fre- 
quently shows  that  from  60  to  90  percent  of  their 
time  is  given  over  to  studies  of  a  routine  character, 
and  that  from  10  to  40  percent  only  is  devoted  to  es- 
sentially productive  investigation.  This  waste  of  en- 
ergy by  skilled  specialists  in  unproductive  work  is 
made  necessary  by  lack  of  adequate  data  filing  systems 
and  the  failure  to  employ  service  specialists  or  li- 
brarians to  make  such  information  promptly  available 
upon  demand. 

Such  surveys,  in  addition,  often  reveal  the  fact  that 
there  is  much  duplication  of  investigational  activity  by 
specialists  connected  with  different  departments  and 
that  this  over-lapping  is  resulting  in  financial  losses  to 
the  concern.  To  obviate  this  danger  one  of  the  largest 
American  industrial  corporations  has  a  standing  rule 
that  all  specialists  and  experts  must  consult  the  library 
indexes  and  records  before  starting  any  new  work. 
By  this  means  the  specialist  is  informed  in  advance 
of  the  activities  of  other  departments  and  also  of  sim- 
ilar investigations  or  studies  made  in  the  past  by  other 
firms  or  by  professional  or  educational  institutions. 
Because  of  failure  to  apply  this  rule  the  specialist  of 
one  firm  made  a  trip  of  several  hundred  miles  and 
used  up  a  week's  time  hunting  up  certain  documents 
which  the  librarian  of  his  concern  could  have  produced 
from  his  files  at  ten  minutes'  notice. 

10 


The  Value  of  the  Business  Library 

It  would  be  poor  policy  for  a  corporation  to  hire 
a  chemist  and  to  expect  him  to  pursue  his  investigations 
without  the  aid  of  a  laboratory.  In  the  same  way, 
engineers,  statisticians,  and  research  workers  are  handi- 
capped by  the  lack  of  a  workshop  to  assemble  the  pub- 
lished and  unpublished  facts  of  business  experience. 
More  than  that — it  is  short-sighted  policy  to  make 
such  experts  spend  the  greater  part  of  their  time  an- 
swering inquiries  that  could  be  answered  satisfactorily 
by  a  good  reference  librarian.  The  industrial  or  busi- 
ness library,  with  its  research  librarians  trained  in  the 
assembling  of  fact-data,  furnishes  just  the  needed  type 
of  "workshop." 

There  are  more  than  600  American  corporations 
today  that  have  increased  the  productive  efficiency  of 
their  research  organizations  by  the  creation  of  special 
libraries  or  information  departments.  The  work  done 
by  these  libraries  varies  in  character  from  the  educa- 
tional library  maintained  to  aid  employees  to  educate 
themselves  to  higher  cultural  levels,  to  the  technical 
library  maintained  for  the  benefit  of  engineering,  sta- 
tistical, financial,  and  other  special  departments.  In 
many  cases  these  libraries — sometimes  called  bureaus 
— are  charged  with  the  task  of  collecting  and  organ- 
izing data  which  pertain  to  the  particular  line  of 
business,  and  also  with  the  task  of  handling  routine 
research  and  informational  service.  Where  such  de- 
partments or  libraries  have  been  properly  organized, 
with  efficient  librarians  or  service  specialists  in  charge, 

n 


it  has  been  found  that  they  can  take  over  from  60  to 
90  percent  of  the  work  previously  performed  by  spe- 
cialists and  experts,  thus  enabling  the  latter  to  devote 
the  major  portion  of  their  time  to  more  creative  lines 
of  research. 

Examples  illustrating  the  dollars  and  cents  value  of 
special  libraries  to  business  concerns  could  be  multi- 
plied almost  without  end.  There  is  a  classic  story 
about  the  city  government  of  one  of  the  larger  Ameri- 
can cities.  In  this  city  a  commission  was  appointed  to 
gather  information  concerning  a  certain  type  of  legis- 
lation. Letters  were  sent  to  cities  throughout  the 
country,  material  collected  and  digested,  and  a  lengthy 
report  compiled.  After  the  completion  of  the  investi- 
gation it  was  discovered  that  the  same  study  had  been 
made  a  short  time  previously  by  a  federal  department 
and  the  published  results  of  the  study  were  available 
in  book  form. 

A  large  professional  firm  in  another  city  was  con- 
fronted with  a  special  problem  and  the  call  went  forth 
for  enlightenment.  In  the  hurry  to  obtain  the  needed 
information  a  high-salaried  member  of  the  firm  made 
a  quick  trip  to  another  organization  in  a  distant  city 
where  the  data  were  said  to  be  available.  After  sev- 
eral days  of  expensive  investigation  he  returned  to  the 
home  office  with  three  documents  containing  the  de- 
sired information.  The  affair  was  mentioned  later  to 
the  firm's  special  librarian;  the  librarian,  after  a  few 
minutes'  search,  was  able  to  produce  the  same  docu- 
ments from  the  files  of  the  company's  library. 

12 


What  Is  a  Spfxial  Library? 

Various  people  have  attempted  to  define  what  a 
special  library  is  and  the  Special  Libraries  Association 
adopted  one  such  definition  at  the  1919  Convention 
which  reads  as  follows:  "A  special  library  consists 
of  a  good  working  collection  of  information  either 
upon  a  specific  subject  or  field  of  activity;  it  may  con- 
sist of  general  or  even  limited  material  serving  the 
interests  of  a  special  clientele,  and  preferably  in  charge 
of  a  specialist  trained  in  the  use  and  application  of 
the  particular  material." 

A  first  qualification  of  the  business  or  technical 
librarian  is  that  he  be  acquainted  with  all  possible 
sources  of  information  about  the  business  with  which 
he  is  connected.  He  must  know  the  informational  re- 
sources of  every  office  and  department  of  the  central 
organization  as  well  as  the  information  in  the  pos- 
session of  every  branch  of  the  firm's  distributing  or- 
ganization, wThere  such  branches  exist.  He  must  know, 
also,  the  sources  from  which  information  may  be 
obtained  concerning  allied  or  competitive  lines  of 
business. 

Where  the  library  is  concerned  with  technical  mat- 
ters not  affecting  the  distributing  organization,  de- 
signed to  aid  a  staff  of  engineers  or  other  specialists, 
the  attention  of  the  librarian  may  be  confined  to  one 
specific  line  of  scientific  investigation.  In  this  event 
he  will  collect  the  standard  reference  books  upon  his 
special  subject,  follow  association  proceedings  and  cur- 
rent scientific  periodicals,  and  keep  this  information 
available  for  the  expert  staff  which  he  serves. 

13 


In  addition  to  the  direct  sources  of  information,  the 
special  librarian  must  keep  in  constant  contact  with 
all  indirect  sources  of  information.  Under  this  head 
are  to  be  classified  the  various  professional  and  trade 
associations,  class  publications,  and  such  books,  gen- 
eral magazines  and  newspapers  as  may  be  devoted  to 
his  particular  line  of  business.  Particular  attention 
should  be  given  to  some  of  the  economic  and  statistical 
services  now  being  offered  to  different  lines  of  business. 

Salvaging  Business  Facts 

Having  discovered  and  classified  all  possible  sources 
of  business  information,  the  next  task  of  the  special 
librarian  is  to  devise  a  salvaging  system  whereby,  in 
so  far  as  possible,  needed  fact  information  will  be 
made  to  come  automatically  to  his  desk.  This  object 
may  be  realized  in  a  variety  of  ways,  such  as:  peri- 
odical reports  from  units  of  the  sales  organization; 
duplicate  carbons  of  office  memoranda;  examination 
of  part  of  incoming  correspondence,  and  by  similar  ar- 
rangements. The  phrase,  "salvaging  information"  is 
current  in  some  firms  and  refers  to  the  collecting  and 
securing  of  data  which  it  is  difficult  for  the  executive  to 
obtain  except  by  special  effort. 

The  salvaging  of  information  from  sources  outside 
the  organization  is  even  more  difficult,  and  it  usually  re- 
quires a  great  deal  of  continuous  or  "follow-up"  corre- 
spondence. By  subscribing  to  certain  bibliographical 
services  which  keep  tab  on  the  various  types  of  busi- 
ness publications  the  work  of  the  special  librarian  will 
be  greatly  facilitated.     It  will  be  necessary  also  to  fol- 

14 


low  the  various  trade  publications  and  association 
proceedings  in  order  to  "catch"  news  items  of  value 
and  to  trace  occasional  pamphlet  publications,  type- 
written reports,  and  public  documents  bearing  upon 
the  business. 

Organizing  Fact  Information 

Above  all  things  the  service  of  the  special  library 
must  be  prompt,  as  the  value  of  fact  information  to 
the  business  executive  is  in  direct  proportion  to  the 
speed  with  which  it  can  be  produced.  Also,  as  Dr. 
Robert  Whitten  has  pointed  out,  "Quick  service  multi- 
plies use."  To  achieve  this  aim  of  prompt  service 
it  is  essential  that  the  fact-data,  when  salvaged  for 
the  library,  be  organized  or  classified  in  accordance 
with  some  system  which  will  make  it  possible  for  the 
librarian  to  locate  any  desired  data  in  the  shortest 
possible  time. 

The  trained  special  librarian  is  able  to  render 
prompt  service  of  this  kind  because  of  his  expert 
knowledge  of  approved  methods  of  indexing  and 
filing.  He  knows  from  past  experience  that  his  data 
must  be  organized  according  to  the  subject  with  which 
it  is  concerned,  and  his  first  task,  therefore,  is  to  adopt 
a  comprehensive  subject  classification  system.  In  de- 
vising his  classification  the  librarian  first  assures  him- 
self that  his  particular  field  has  not  been  covered  by 
any  brother  librarian  whose  experience  might  furnish 
a  valuable  guide.  The  librarian  also  gives  due  con- 
sideration to  the  Dewey  Decimal  and  Library  of 
Congress   classification   schemes   to   ascertain  whether 

15 


these  systems  will  answer  his  requirements.  The 
classification  system,  when  adopted,  is  arranged  to 
cover  the  general  organization  of  the  business  as  well 
as  to  meet  the  demands  for  information  as  revealed 
by  the  informational  survey.  The  subjects,  together 
with  their  numbers,  are  then  transferred  to  the  tabbed 
guides  of  the  vertical  files,  preferably  legal  size  cabi- 
nets, and  data  are  henceforth  filed  by  subject  imme- 
diately upon  receipt. 

The  peculiar  advantage  of  this  method  of  organ- 
izing information  is  that  it  provides  the  answers  for 
questions  before  the  actual  questions  are  asked.  It 
is,  in  fact,  the  day  by  day  application  of  the  research 
principle,  and  thus  is  an  invaluable  aid  and  supplement 
to  the  work  of  the  research  staff.  By  the  adoption 
of  this  plan  of  special  library  service,  smaller  firms 
that  cannot  afford  to  retain  high-salaried  specialists, 
may  secure  a  great  many  of  the  undoubted  advantages 
to  be  obtained  from  the  employment  of  such  expert 
executive  assistants. 

The  Distribution  of  Fact  Information 

Many  service  organizations  have  failed  because  of 
the  neglect  to  properly  visualize  the  problem  of  dis- 
tribution. This  is  particularly  true  in  the  case  of  a 
service — such  as  that  of  the  business  library — where 
distribution  must  be  prompt,  as  well  as  carefully 
gauged  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  recipient.  It  is  espe- 
cially important  that  due  consideration  be  given  to 
the  form  and  manner  in  which  fact  information  is 
released. 

16 


Generally  speaking,  fact  information  collected  by 
the  business  library  will  be  released  by  one  or  more 
of  the  following  methods : 

1.  By  verbal  reports  to  inquirers 

2.  By  letters  or  typewritten  memoranda 

3.  By  news  letters  or  bulletins 

4.  By  special  reports  or  monographs 

Verbal  reports  are  made  by  the  special  librarian 
after  reference  to  his  data  files  for  information  upon 
the  subject  in  question;  this  involves  the  usual  library 
reference  procedure  and  should  be  characterized  by  a 
prompt  and  courteous  desire  to  be  of  service.  In  an- 
swering letter  inquiries  and  in  writing  memoranda 
the  librarian  has  more  leisure  for  the  study  of  data 
on  hand  and  such  reports  are  more  in  the  nature  of 
abstracts  of  reports  and  miscellaneous  literature 
which  he  has  collected  in  the  past. 

Special  Reports 

From  constant  contact  with  the  problems  of  his 
firm  the  librarian  soon  finds  that  certain  questions  con- 
stantly recur — that  there  is  a  widespread  demand  for 
information  on  some  aspect  of  the  company's  activi- 
ties. When  such  a  need  becomes  apparent  it  is  fre- 
quently desirable  that  the  librarian  make  some  study 
of  the  problem  in  question  and  compile  a  special  re- 
port for  distribution  among  the  employees  of  the  firm. 
Such  reports  cover  a  variety  of  subjects,  such  as:  his- 
tory of  firm;  prices  of  products  manufactured  and  de- 
scription  thereof;    special   uses    of   products;    market 

17 


analysis  practice  as  developed  by  various  distributers; 
special  information  for  salesmen,  etc. 

The  News  Letter  Service 

The  special  librarian  occupies  a  central  position  with 
regard  to  the  work  of  all  departments  of  the  company 
and  in  general  practice  the  informational  function  of 
the  library  is  more  and  more  accentuated  as  the  serv- 
ice develops.  It  frequently  happens  that  the  librarian 
is  deluged  with  minor  questions  and  inquiries  re- 
garding matters  which  should  be  currently  known. 
Such  questions,  in  many  cases,  are  forestalled  by 
issuing  a  News  Letter  or  Service  Bulletin,  largely 
informational  in  character,  and  devoted  to  news 
and  notes  regarding  current  developments  in  the 
business.  Such  bulletins  are  not  to  be  confused  with 
the  sales  promotional  and  advertising  literature  is- 
sued by  many  concerns;  they  are  concerned  with 
matters  of  fact  and  with  references  to  notes  and 
reviews  of  current  books  and  literature  dealing  with 
the  particular  business  in  which  the  firm  is  engaged. 

A  successful  news  letter  service  has  frequently  be- 
come one  of  the  most  valuable  assets  of  the  business 
concern  by  which  it  is  issued.  Such  letters  or  bulletins, 
although  devoted  exclusively  to  "shop"  talk  and  fact 
information,  frequently  achieve  a  distinctive  character 
which  holds  the  attention  of  office  employees  and  of 
salesmen  in  distributing  agencies.  The  influence  of 
organs  of  this  kind  often  results  in  increased  knowl- 
edge of  the  business  on  the  part  of  employees  as  well 

18 


as    greater    working    efficiency    and    improved    esprit 
de  corps. 

The  Mailing  List  Question 

At  the  time  of  the  preliminary  informational  survey 
the  special  librarian  should  make  careful  note  of  the 
sources  from  which  the  various  inquiries  emanate. 
With  this  information  as  a  basis,  a  careful  mailing 
list  should  be  developed,  arranged  in  such  fashion  as 
to  indicate  the  special  subjects  in  which  each  person  is 
interested.  The  mailing  list  should  be  arranged  ac- 
cording to  group  interests  and  the  stencil  plates  should 
indicate  whether  data  to  be  mailed  are  to  be  sent  in 
quantity  or  not.  Mailing  list  accuracy  is  an  important 
part  of  special  library  service,  as  the  person  who  is 
overlooked,  or  who  receives  his  reports  and  data  ir- 
regularly, is  apt  to  complain  or  to  feel  that  he  is  being 
slighted  by  the  home  office. 

Special  Library  Costs 

The  cost  of  installing  a  business  library  will  depend 
upon  the  type  of  library  service  that  is  desired.  Where 
the  aim  is  to  afford  educational  and  cultural  facilities 
for  employees  the  expense  will  depend  upon  the  num- 
ber of  books  purchased  and  the  amount  of  trained 
supervision  required.  In  some  of  the  larger  cities 
public  library  branches  have  been  established  in  the 
larger  factory  plants,  with  part-time  service  of  a 
trained  librarian,  and  with  small  collections  of  both 
cultural  and  technical  books. 

Many  firms  possess  laboratory  organizations  where 
research   investigations    of    a    primary   character    are 

19 


carried  on  and  in  such  cases  frequent  reference  to 
technical  literature  in  various  languages  is  necessary. 
The  expense  of  special  libraries  of  this  character  will 
also  depend  upon  the  extent  of  the  scientific  field  to 
be  covered  and  upon  the  ability  of  the  technical  li- 
brarian placed  in  charge. 

Where  the  library  assumes  the  character  of  an  in- 
formation bureau  and  is  depended  upon  to  supple- 
ment the  work  of  business  specialists  the  expense  is 
somewhat  higher.  In  the  long  run  the  space  required 
for  any  type  of  business  or  technical  library  will  ex- 
ceed that  needed  for  the  lesser  departments  of  the 
business.  Equipment  expenses  will  include  such  items 
as  filing  and  shelving,  indexes,  duplicating  machines, 
and  the  like.  Where  special  bulletins  and  news  letters 
are  issued  in  printed  or  mimeographed  form  the  ex- 
pense will  be  proportionately  increased. 

The  budgets  of  special  libraries  now  in  existence 
vary  from  figures  as  low  as  $3,000  or  $4,000  to 
$20,000  and  over.  The  overhead  expense  of  gov- 
ernment libraries,  for  example,  may  run  very  high 
because  of  the  wide  range  of  special  subjects  covered 
by  the  collections.  The  business  library,  on  the  other 
hand,  covers  a  considerably  smaller  field — a  field  re- 
garding which  a  relatively  small  amount  of  printed 
matter  has  been  issued — and  for  this  reason  overhead 
expenses  are  less. 

Firms  That  Have  Special  Libraries 

As  mentioned  above  there  are  today  a  large  num- 
ber of  American  business  concerns  which  have  a  spe- 

20 


cial  library  of  some  kind.  -"There-  are:  many  spe- 
cial collections  of  printed  and"  other"  "fact  infor- 
mation maintained  by  department  libraries  in  con- 
nection with  federal,  state  and  local  governments. 
Professional  associations  and  trade  bodies  in  many  in- 
stances have  built  up  special  collections  of  great  value 
which  form  the  basis  of  nation-wide  service  to  their 
members.  The  professional  and  trade  magazines, 
also,  frequently  develop  special  collections  of  informa- 
tion used  in  connection  with  editorial  and  service 
functions.  Among  the  better-known  American  firms 
that  have  established  libraries  as  integral  parts  of 
their  central  organization,  the  following  may  be  men- 
tioned: 

Aberthaw  Construction  Co.,  Boston,  Mass. 
American  Agricultural  Chemical  Co.,  Boston,   Mass. 
American  Appraisal  Co.,  Milwaukee,  Wis. 
American  Brass  Co.,  Waterbury,  Conn. 
American  Cotton  Oil  Co.,  New  York  City 
American  International  Corporation,   New  York  City 
American  Steel  &  Wire  Company,  New  York  City 
American  Telephone  &  Telegraph  Co.,  New  York  City 
American  Writing  Paper  Co.,  Holyoke,  Mass. 
Armour  &  Company,  Chicago,   111. 
Atlantic  Refining  Co.,  Philadelphia,  Penna. 
The  Barrett  Company,   New  York  City- 
Boston  Elevated  Railway  Co.,  Boston,  Mass. 
H.  M.  Byllesby  &  Co.,  Chicago,  111. 
California  Associated  Raisin  Co.,  Fresno,  Calif. 
Canadian  Pacific  Railway  Company,  New  York  City 
Carrere  &  Hastings,  New  York  City 

Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the  United  States,  Washington,  D.  C. 

21 


Cleveland  Tractor  Co.,  Cleveland,,  O. 
Commonwealth  Edison  Co.,  Chicago,   111. 
Connecticut  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Co.,  Hartford,  Conn. 
Continental  &  Commercial  National  Bank,  Chicago,   111. 
Crowell  Publishing  Company,  New  York  City 
Dennison  Manufacturing  Company,  Framingham,  Mass. 
Detroit  Edison  Co.,  Detroit,  Mich. 
E.  I.  duPont  de  Nemours  &  Co.,  Wilmington,  Del. 
Eastman  Kodak  Co.,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 
Federal  Reserve  Bank,  New  York  City 
General  Electric  Company,  Schenectady,  N.  Y. 
Goodyear  Tire  and  Rubber  Co.,  Akron,  O. 
Gorham  Manufacturing  Co.,  Providence,  R.  I. 
Great  Western  Sugar  Co.,  Denver,  Colo. 
Grinnell  Company,  Providence,  R.  I. 
Guaranty  Trust  Company,  New  York  City 
Haskins  &  Sells,  New  York  City 
Hydraulic  Steel  Co.,  Cleveland,  O. 
Ingersoll,  Rand  &  Co.,  New  York  City 
International  Harvester  Company,  Chicago,  111. 
Irving  National  Bank,  New  York  City 
Kidder,  Peabody  and  Co.,  Boston,  Mass. 
Eli  Lilly  and  Co.,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 
Arthur  D.  Little,  Inc.,  Cambridge,  Mass. 
Maryland  Casualty  Co.,  Baltimore,  Md. 
J.  P.  Morgan  &  Co.,  New  York  City 
National  Aniline  &  Chemical  Co.,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 
National  City  Bank,  New  York  City 
National  Retail  Dry  Goods  Association,  New  York  City 
New  Jersey  Zinc  Company,  Palmerton,  Penna. 
Norton  Company,  Worcester,  Mass. 
Old  Colony  Trust  Co.,  Boston,  Mass. 
Pacific  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Co.,  Los  Angeles,  Calif. 

22 


•  •  • 


Packard  Motor  Car  Co.,  Detroit,  >*Miehi  :'\  :"•:  •/•• 

Pennsylvania  Railroad  System,  Pittsburgh,  Penna. 

Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit  Company,  Philadelphia,  Penna. 

Public  Service  Corporation,  Newark,  N.  J. 

Remington  Arms  Co.,   Bridgeport,  Conn. 

Republic  Iron  and  Steel  Co.,  Youngstown,  O. 

Scovill   Manufacturing   Company,   Waterbury,   Conn. 

Sears  Roebuck  &  Co.,  Chicago,  111. 

Sinclair  Exploration  Co.,  New  York  City 

Solvay  Process  Co.,  Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

Southern  Sierras  Power  Co.,  Riverside,  Calif. 

Stone  &  Webster,  Boston,  Mass. 

J.  Walter  Thompson  Co.,  New  York  City 

United  Drug  Co.,  Boston,  Mass. 

United  Gas  Improvement  Co.,  Philadelphia,  Penna. 

Yale  &  Towne  Manufacturing  Co.,  Stamford,  Conn. 

Special  Library  Literature 

The  Special  Libraries  Association  for  the  past 
decade  has  been  publishing  a  monthly  magazine,  en- 
titled Special  Libraries,  and  in  the  pages  of  this 
publication  the  history  and  progress  of  the  special  li- 
brary movement  is  recorded.  Copies  of  current  and 
of  past  issues  of  this  magazine  are  available  from  the 
Secretary  of  the  Association,  who  should  be  addressed 
at  3363  Sixteenth  St.,  N.  W.,  Washington,  D.  C. 

The  progress  of  the  special  library  movement  has 
also  been  treated  in  a  valuable  monograph  by  Mr. 
Richard  H.  Johnston,  entitled  "Special  Libraries,'1 
which  was  issued  in  1915  by  the  American  Library 
Association  Publishing  Board.  Mr.  Johnston's  mono- 
graph, which  contains  a  bibliography,  is  supplemented 

23 


by  an  interesting  article  contributed  to  the  April  1, 
1920,  issue  of  "The  Library  Journal"  by  Mr.  Guy  E. 
Marion,  the  title  of  which  is  "The  Special  Libraries 
Association."  The  Wilson  Bulletin  for  December, 
1920,  published  by  the  H.  W.  Wilson  Co.,  958  Uni- 
versity Ave.,  New  York  City,  includes  a  list  of  ref- 
erences on  business  libraries,  also  an  article  on  the 
service  of  the  business  library  by  Alice  L.  Rose,  li- 
brarian of  the  National  City  Bank,  New  York. 
Mr.  Ralph  L.  Power  has  published  a  volume  on  the 
special  libraries  of  Boston  and  Miss  Louise  B.  Krause 
has  published  a  book  of  more  general  character  on  the 
special  library  and  its  work.  Regional  directories  of 
the  special  libraries  of  New  York,  Boston  and  Phila- 
delphia have  recently  been  published  and  a  national 
directory  is  now  in  process  of  compilation  by  the 
Special  Libraries  Association. 

The  President  and  Secretary  of  the  Special  Libraries 
Association  are  at  all  times  ready  to  supply  more  de- 
tailed information  concerning  the  organization,  man- 
agement, and  costs  of  special  libraries,  and  inquiries 
are  solicited  from  all  organizations  or  business  firms 
contemplating  the  adoption  of  this  modern  and  con- 
constructive  type  of  business  service. 


24 


llf 

14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LIBRARY  5    dh   LIBRAKX 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 


on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


NOV  2  0  19C3 
1  1  1971 


LD  21-50m-4,'63 
(D6471sl0)476 


General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


